Skip to main content

Lifting, Spinning, Crockpot Cooking

Lifting and Spinning 
It seems like just about everyone is experiencing super cold weather. Our average this time of year is supposed to be low 50's. On my walk into the office this morning, the wind chill was 12 degrees. Let's just say I dropped quite a few f-bombs while walking as quickly as humanly possible for the 3 block walk! I actually wore tights under my pants and my Under Armour compression running top under my turtleneck.

I think cold temps not only zap heat, they zap motivation. It's hard to want to change into not-as-warm workout clothes for starters. I think it takes longer to warm up even. That'll be my excuse for how weak I was feeling with my biceps workout I did at lunch. I guess when I look at the number of reps done though, that should be the true indicator of why I thought I was struggling. Today was STS Meso 2, Disc 21.

Dumbbell curls - 12,10,8,12,10,8 (starting at 70% of 1RM and increasing by 5% for 10, another 5% for 8 then start over)
Incline curls with rotation at top of move - 12,10,TF
Reverse curls - 12,10,TF

When I went to grab my water glass, I had doubts of being able to safely hold it ;-)

After work I ran home to get dinner started before changing and meeting Jason at the gym for spin class. My legs were actually still rather sore from Saturday's leg workout. I was really thinking I would never make it through class. But after about 10 minutes in, my legs started to cooperate and I pushed on through. I was a sweaty mess. 

Crockpot Night
As I mentioned, I ran home to get dinner started before the gym. Because it is so darn cold, soup was the only thing that sounded good. I had really though I was going to make Taco Salad Bowls, but that just doesn't sound good right about now. So, I decided to try an easy Crockpot Vegetable Soup.

I don't use the crockpot very often. Ours is ancient and tends to work on two heat settings: off and hot as hell. So I figured the hot as hell setting would cook everything in about a 2-hour time frame. I used frozen veggies instead of raw so I knew that would help speed up the cooking time as well.

I hate to even call this a recipe because I pretty much just tossed in no-sodium vegetable stock, diced tomatoes, frozen veggies, beans, leftover roasted potatoes, and spices into the crockpot, turned it on, and walked away. When I got in from the gym, I added in about 2-3 tbsp of tomato paste and let it continue to cook while we both got cleaned up.
 

This worked out perfectly. There was barely any mess, it was pretty much ready when we walked in the door, and it hit the spot on a cold night.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Let's Have Coffee

If you're a regular blog reader, I'm sure you've seen similar posts, scenarios if you will, about what we might chat about or what I might say if we sat down and had coffee together. I think these can be fun. Maybe fun isn't the right word choice exactly. But maybe it is? They're transparent, showing who the blogger really is ... if they're being honest of course. It's not often you truly get to sit down with the person behind the blog. Banana Nut Biscotti with Banana Glaze If we were to have coffee together ... I would first let you know that I'm not a super fan of coffee. I drink mine with hot cocoa and it's mostly out of habit rather than the need for caffeine. I could forgo it on the weekends entirely. Since we're talking coffee, I would also let you know that I've never ordered coffee from Starbucks and only once from a true coffee shop. I've only been into 2 Starbucks shops - the original in Seattle and one in town wher...

Move it May Monthly Challenge

What's it About? Are you looking for a challenge to get motivated to move? Or maybe you just like challenges and want to add something different to your routine. My Move It May Workout Challenge is a great way for beginners to get started and a fun challenge for old pros. There is no equipment needed and you can even do the moves while catching up on your favorite tv shows! How Does it Work? Each week is a different bodyweight only exercise. You begin with 30 reps and work your way up to 50 reps. You can do the exercise in groupings throughout the day (e.g., 10 reps in the morning, 10 at lunch, etc.) or knock them out all at once. It's your choice! Visit my Where's the Beach Fitness Online Training Website to sign up for weekly email reminders and to find out about new challenges! Let's Get Social! Don't forget to like me on Facebook , and follow on Twitter and Instagram  for check ins and reminders. Use hashtag MoveItMayChallenge and/or WTBFitnes...

KIND Bar Review + Apple Raisin Wheat Berry Salad

Weights & Step As much as I wanted to run today, I knew there was no getting up early enough to do so. Monday's are hard enough without getting up at 5 am to run. Yawn ... So, today I did my weights at lunch then cardio after work. Weights were pull muscles (biceps and back). I did 3 sets of 8 reps of the following: Biceps : Alternating curls Cross-body curls Zottoman curls Back: Single-arm horizontal row Underhand DB rows Double arm rows It was a pretty good workout. I felt pretty strong today for some reason. Love it when that happens. My legs were pretty sore from yesterday's workout, so I opted for a lower intensity cardio: Cathe's Low Impact Circuit - Cardio Only Premix plus abs. It was a great workout and helped to loosen up my legs. KIND Review I have been very remiss with my review of the KIND bars that I won from Jill @ My So Called Health LIfe . I won the Nut Delight. I don't know why, but I expected it to be a tad softer...